mascara

I think I have to let go of the idea of having a regular updating schedule, I just can’t keep up with it! I still have lots of ideas, photos and untried/unreviewed products, so I’ll keep posting, but it just won’t be regularly 😛

So. A while ago I received a package from W7, after I participated on a twitter giveaway for bloggers. I’m very glad they sent me these lovely items, and I couldn’t wait to try them!

They included a small note, which I thought was totally adorable! I feel kind of guilty for not writing this review earlier, but I really didn’t have time (still don’t have really, but I just HAD to <3)

The items included in this set are:

Eyeshadow, Perfect Eyes in Caribbean (couldn’t find a link to the exact shade, but here are some more)

First of all, this gorgeous shimmery blue shade of eyeshadow, called Caribbean! It contains 3.5 grams of product, and the texture is very smooth. I’m already in love!

And the pigment is incredible too! It lasts quite long on my (super oily) lids, even without a primer. It does crease a bit, but that’s pretty much unavoidable with my eyes.. It does have some fall-out so tap your brush before you put it on your eyelids.

The eyeliner has a firm felt tip, but you dip it into the pot to get the black liquid out. I haven’t actually tried it on my eyes yet, since I absolutely SUCK at making a winged eyeliner..

But as you can see on my hand, this felt tip is GREAT at making fine lines, thick lines, squiggly lines, and is jet-black whilst doing this! I’m absolutely impressed. Especially when I tried to remove it.. this stuff doesn’t budge! I don’t have a good cleanser, but I guess an oil-based remover will take care of this.

Now, onto the mascara! This is a product I use pretty much every day, so I loved getting to test this 🙂 The first thing that stands out about this mascara, is that it’s HUGE! I compared the rubber brush to my finger, and I don’t really have tiny fingers.. Wow! The brush takes up a lot of mascara, which kind of makes it difficult to apply evenly and without clumps. It is however quite easy to wipe the brush on the edge of the bottle, and this makes application much easier and smoother 🙂 Now let’s test the performance of this MOAM (Mother-of-all-mascaras)

Top is without, bottom is with mascara, without wiping the brush. I shouldn’t have applied mascara to my bottom lashes, since I was way too twitchy and smudged it all over..

Same mascara, but this time I wiped my brush on the bottle.. As you can see, this mascara gives a LOT of volume to my lashes! It also adds quite a lot of length, but I have used mascaras that gave more length. It does take a while for the mascara to dry and you have to be careful not to get clumps, but that still can be fixed with a clean spoolie brush.

All in all, I’m really glad W7 sent me these products (thanks!!), I really am impressed by the quality, since they’re not at all expensive! In the Netherlands, you can get them in some shops (Big Bazaar, Op=Op Voordeelshop) and at www.makeupmusthaves.nl 🙂

As I mentioned in my previous post about a L’oreal box, I wasn’t completely satisfied with the contents: 3 lip products and one eye shadow. I sent a mail to the company, and they promised to send me some other products. When they arrived, there were, again, 4 products in the box! How great is that service? 😀

Without any further ado, here’s the lovely box:

Included in this box were:

Two HIP pigments, Showy (blues, 224) and Mischief (908)

Telescopic Explosion mascara in Blackest Black, waterproof (985, the one with the weird brush)

I already had one of the HIP eyeshadow duos (Sassy), and I like it a lot! The colours blend well and are quite pigmented and buildable. The wear time is quite long, but on my oily lids, creasing is unavoidable.

These duos contain a matte and a shimmery shade, while the other (in the previous box) contained two metallicy shades. These also have a little sponge applicator and a mirror in a ‘secret’ compartment. Both shades were smooth to the touch and didn’t have much fallout, but it was very noticeable that the shimmery shades were more pigmented than the matte shades

The first swatch shows the colours after I build them up a bit, the second shows a one-finger-swipe-swatch. After I tried the shadows on my eyes and used a brush, the dark shades were much more intense (hello raccoon eyes :P) and looked great.

Now, onto the mascaras! I didn’t take proper pics of the second mascara, but it was nothing special. At least not compared to the Telescopic Explosion! I’ve never seen a brush like that..

The little brush head/ball is designed to precisely extend and separate the lashes, and to get into the corner of the eye and catch all lashes! I also like how the mascara tube comes separate from the brush, so everyone gets to appreciate the brush in all its glory 😀

Now, I’ve never made comparison pics before of my lashes, but I tried my best.. Left is without, right is with this mascara:

And from the side

I have quite black and long lashes myself, but this mascara gives a beautiful curl and adds some length. It promises a fanned-out effect on your lashes, and it delivers. No clumping, no lashes glued together. I love it!

The second mascara (I forgot to take separate pics.. oops) is the Bare Naturale Mineral-Enriched (quite a mouthful!), and apparently it’s a formula which contains aloe, vitamin E and jojoba oil. I don’t particularly care about the formula, so let’s move on to the lash shots! I do apologise in advance for my red eye. I got a little bit too excited with the cleanup and probably poked my eye or something.

The sun hide behind the clouds for the mascara shots, that’s why my pupils are dilated like mad!

I’m not very impressed by this mascara. It doesn’t do much for me, except from smudging under my eye, although I kind of have myself to blame for that because I’m super clumsy and pretty much smeared mascara all over my under eye area..

So, this concludes this review. I love how they sent me more products, even though I didn’t exactly ask for it! Big thumbs up for them 🙂 I was really impressed by the Telescopic Explosion mascara, and I can never have enough eye shadow!